The Cell
by Zoser
Summary: O'Neill pays for tragic consequences. SamJack SamPete
1. Chapter 1

The Cell 

He sat in the dank cell, on the hard packed dirt floor, knowing he would die and he could not summon enough energy to care. They had shown him the rest of the body. He didn't really want to see it. He had been briefed first hand when the incident occurred. So why in Gods name would they show him the charred remains of the child's body. Now he couldn't close his eyes without see it, without hearing the wailing of the mother and the angry curses of the father.

oooooooooooooooooooooooo

When the initial report came through to the SGC he grabbed Daniel to go with him to extradite his men SG – 9. It wasn't their fault. The accident had occurred before SG – 9 even stepped through the gate. They were ready for their mission, they looked to General O'Neill, he gave the go and the gate was opened and the boy died.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Nusa was an inquisitive child. He was supposed to be doing chores but the sound of the chevrons engaging lured him. The stone circle was said to be enchanted and forbidden so naturally he longed to touch it, to have some of its power. And the gate opened and consumed him.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When the men stepped through they were faced with the smoldering remains of a child. These men had children of their own. They grieved for a tragedy they could not have prevented nor anticipated. A Jaffa would have stepped over the body or kicked it aside or gave it three with his zat-nickatel and not think of it again. But these men felt the pain as if it were their own flesh. They reported the incident to the SGC and brought the body to the nearest village.

Their sin was punishable by death; the law here was strictly an eye for an eye. The parents of the child were beyond caring, too horror stricken at the remains of what just a short time age had been a happy carefree child, but the priests and officials decided that only more blood could right this wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

General O'Neill brought Daniel with him more for support rather than for his diplomatic skills. O'Neill knew what he was going to do. He would trade his life for the SG team. He had given the order for the gate to be opened, he was the one that was ultimately at fault, he killed the child. So if anyone should die for this tragic accident it was he. Daniel was needed to explain what O'Neill could not formulate in words and to get the team home. Jack would not allow Daniel to bargain on his behalf and ordered SG – 9 to return through the gate with Doctor Jackson even if it meant dragging him kicking and screaming. Jack was not totally content with his fate but thought that life had finally caught up to him and it was time to pay for all the sins of his past and his sins were legion.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam Carter returned form a weekend of interminable wedding planning. What was the damn rush? Was it all Pete could think of? Was the man so damn insecure that if they didn't marry as soon as possible she would just evaporate? Maybe the poor guy was right. The closer the date came, the more finalized the plans became, the more she wanted to walk, no run away from the whole thing. Maybe he was justified in his fears; she certainly was having second thoughts. She thought constantly of the man she had placed her hopes on for so many years; the one man she, oh so conveniently, couldn't have. The whole thing gave her a massive headache. What she thought she wanted she couldn't have, so she decided to change her outlook, change her objective, go for the life, the family, the husband, she needed and could have. But what was looming right in front of her and eager for her looked less and less appetizing. She decided not to decide. For once she would allow herself to be swept away rather than analyze and inspect. It was time to be a woman and not the scientist. And as soon as that thought occurred to her, she could hear his voice the first day she met him. "I like women. I've just got a little problem with scientists." Back to square one.

As she exited the elevator to the SGC she was aware of the turmoil enveloping the base. SG – 9 was in trouble and General O'Neill himself was going off world to iron things out. She smiled to herself, thinking of the General in the role of diplomat – 'Sure hope he brought Daniel with him'.


	3. Chapter 3

When the general exited the gate he saw his men standing there in chains. He nodded to the head men of the village who were aware of the rank O'Neill held as leader of these men. 

"Daniel, tell them to release them immediately. Then dial up the gate and leave with them."

"You'll need an interpreter."

"I think I can handle this on my own. For once just do as I say."

It seemed all too easy, the men were freed and the gate dialed. O'Neill shed his vest and all his equipment and handed them to Daniel; for the first time that day actually looked him in the eye. He grasped his arm as he handed over his weapons. And a soft, barely voiced 'thank you' was all he said.

His officers disappeared through the wormhole and he turned himself over to the village elders. They started the slow walk to the village, the road lined on either side with most of the village inhabitance and many from the surrounding country side. Some were there just for the novelty of seeing an off-worlder, some to join in the mourning of the dead child and many, many more there to exact vengeance. They threw whatever they could lay their hands on at him, those closer spit at him or tore at his clothing. The crowds were only admonished when a poorly aimed stone hit one of the elders. When he was flung into the cell, he was filthy and covered with bruises and scratches, but what he felt was the unadulterated hatred of the people seeping into his bones.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Daniel realized in the moment the Jack look at him and thanked him that the man was divesting himself of more than his weapons. He was shedding himself of rank, of the SGC, of friends, of life. And he couldn't protest. This was Jack, this was the person he was. He didn't leave his men behind and would protect them even if it meant placing his own body in the line of fire. Daniel stumbled through the gate feeling angry and despondent. He wished that Teal'c were here, he would have hauled O'Neill bodily back through the gate but he was off with the newly forming Jaffa nation. Or maybe Sam would have thought of something but she was off with Pete.

Pete, now that was a surprise to Daniel. After all these years he always though something was going on beneath the surface with Sam and Jack, something deeper than the flirting of the earlier years. But lately Jack had gotten grouchier and Sam more distant so he guessed things had fallen apart. He figured Jack wasn't getting any and Sam was looking for something she didn't have to hide. But Pete, Geeze, next to Jack, the guy was a total looser. Maybe Sam knew something he didn't. Well, wasn't the old saw 'Comparisons are odious' and that fit the guy to a T – odious. Was this why Jack walked so calmly into the hands of these men so bent on revenge?

Christ what was he thinking as he headed to the General's office now inhabited by Colonel Reynolds. They needed to find a solution – they needed to get Jack back in one piece. On the way he ran smack into Sam.

oooooooooooooooooooo

"How could this have happened?"

"Actually I'm surprised this has never happened before." Daniel said, thinking of the accidental death of the child.

Carter, in fact, meant them allowing General O'Neill to turn himself over, to toss away his life for someone he didn't know. How could he walk away from everything so easily and embrace death? What the hell was wrong with him?

Reynolds asked the assembled team leaders for suggestions on how to approach this problem considering the General himself had settled it by buying back SG – 9 with his own life and would be royally pissed if any more lives were lost rescuing him either the lives of the members of the SGC or of the native population.

Lieutenant Colonel Carter suggested an immediate rescue mission the consequences be damned. It was easier to ask pardon than permission. But Daniel countered.

"What if their method of exacting punishment is the same as the original loss of life? What if Jack is in front of that gate right now waiting for us to do to him exactly what happen to that child?"

Hammond was on his way from D.C. to pick up the rein and no one envied him the task.


	4. Chapter 4

O'Neill was kept confined in the small airless cell for three days while the villagers discussed the best way to avenge the small boy. Would the strangers retaliate? Shouldn't the parents be given the right to determine the murder's fate? Wouldn't it be best to tie him to the Stargate and let the next eruption swallow him up, giving him plenty of time to await his fate? They decided that he needed to see the consequences of his actions. They showed him what was left of the small child and the allowed the parents access to him.  
They provided water but gave him no food. He was a formidable warrior and they were somewhat afraid of the man although he did not so much as raise his hand to protect himself from the buffeting on the walk to the village. The lack of food did not cause O'Neill much distress. After see the body of the boy he didn't think he would ever eat again. Nor would the stench of death ever be washed away. 

O'Neill stood as the couple entered the cell. The woman grief stricken screamed at him in words he didn't understand but the message was definitely received. She struck out at him with small fists and fled without the peace she thought revenge would provide. The man barely said a word as he stared at O'Neill. His anguish was something O'Neill full understood – guilt and pain filled both their souls. The man then struck Jack over and over again cursing him, calling down the wrath of every god he knew. And when he was exhausted and O'Neill lay at his feet he left, his anger not assuaged nor his pain lessened. His son was still dead and the world was awash with more pain.

The next day they dragged O'Neill out of the cell and stood him before the entire populous. The elders and holy men offered the father the ceremonial blade and asked him if he wished to kill the foreigner, the murderer of his son. But the man demurred.  
"What good will it do? After this man is dead will my son come back to life? No, let him live that every day he may die just a little until his soul is consumed. But I do not wish to ever see his face again."

O'Neill was dragged to the Stargate. In no uncertain terms he was ordered to leave and never return. He gated to the Alpha site, stumbled through, and then he passed out. 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N - Thanks for the reviews.

oooooooooooooooo

He was gone for so long and no one, no one made the attempt to do anything about it. Oh they talked about it but did nothing. Sam paced and although she tried to throw herself into her work, she could not concentrate. It was just insane; she missed him so much. At first she refused to acknowledge it. When he was at the base she took him for granted like the walls or the air but like the walls or the air she could not exist without him. She dreamed about him, dreamed about Jonah, Jonah touching her, kissing her, caressing her, making love to her. She had distanced herself from Pete but this morning still flush from her dreams she let him love her.

She felt guilty wanting O'Neill and having Pete, having Pete and wanting only O'Neill. She had to make this right; she had to make some hard decisions; she had to make a choice and most of all she had to stop this juggernaut to the altar with the wrong man. What she had to do was admit to herself what and who she really wanted.

ooooooooooooooooooooo

When the bruises on his face were less noticeable he returned to the SGC. He wrote a report to Hammond but spoke of the ordeal to no one. It was one more burning coal to warm his place in hell, one more nightmare to torment his lonely nights, one more senseless death to ravish his soul. Another innocent's blood he could not wash from his hands.


	6. Chapter 6

It was late, after eleven, at night. He had heard the car pull into his driveway and now the soft rap on the door. He open the door and there stood Samantha Carter. He turned and walked back into the shadowy living room. 

"You draw the short straw this time."

"No sir."

"Can't tell me you won."

"No sir, this was my idea."

"And here I thought you were the smart one."

He sat on the couch in front of the muted flickering TV, totally oblivious to the action on the screen. He picked up the glass of bourbon and held it without drinking. She noticed that it looked hardly touched as if he didn't have the energy to even get drunk.

"I needed to talk to you."

She sat down on the couch facing him but he ignored her and just stared into the glass.

"So talk."

"You're not going to make this easy."

"Not my idea."

"Why did you go?"

"Twenty questions? If so I'm not playing.  
Remember Hadanta, Hammond offered himself for our release. I couldn't do less."

"I was afraid…"

He cut her off with a look.  
"It's the job; it's what I needed to do."

"No, that's not what I … I was afraid I'd loose you." She was biting the inside of her cheek to keep for letting the tears come. "I'm still afraid I'm loosing you."

She could tell from the look on his face he did know what the hell she was talking about and was not about to ask. She leaned into him touching him gently. The tear escaped, running down her cheek and onto his neck. He oh so tentatively held her shoulder and patted it. He was afraid that if he put an arm around her he would crush her to himself and never let go.

He was thinking of the mission that Janet died; the day he was released from the infirmary and she came to see him, to tell him she was happy he was alive. They held each other, he buried his face in her neck and kissed her and never wanted to let her go. But he had no right to even touch her and let go the instant her grip slackened. What he wanted was to take her home and kiss away each tear and soothe away the pain of loss but instead he went home alone swallowing pills and passing the next few day in a haze of pain and sorrow and longing.

"Thought you'd be happy to get a new base commander – it's going to happen sooner or later. You may as well get use to it – all of it. I suspect you'll be running the show before long, and you'll be the one making the hard choices."

"And I wind up sitting all alone with only a glass of whiskey for company?"

"You never need to be alone."

"I am alone, so alone."

She broke down and he turned to her again not knowing if he should respond. He couldn't bear to hear her cry and gathered her up in his arms as he murmured "Com'ere, com'ere."

"I need you."

"Pete's going to be pissed if he hears that."

"I don't need him. I wanted to fill a gaping hole in my life, square peg trying to fill a gapping round hole."

A smile flickered on O'Neill's lips, she could feel it against her neck. He pulled away to look at her.

"You have a dirty mind, sir."

"Yes, yes Carter I do."

"Why must you be such an idiot?"

"That's idiot, sir."

"God damn it, you know what I'm talking about."

"No, Carter, that's just it, I don't."

Another tear ran down her cheek and she angrily swiped it away.

"Why don't you love me?"

So many things swirled through his mind. ' Was that a question or an invitation – maybe both. God knows he didn't want to send her back to Pete. What he wanted to do was pick her up and carry her off to his bed. Officer and a gentleman – shit, commanding officer and suppose to be a gentleman.'

He winced, stood up and grabbed her hand and walked her to the door. And as he opened it to let her out he said. "That's just it, Sam, I do."


	7. Epilogue

The Cell – Epilogue 

It was three weeks after Jacob's death, the Goa'uld were all but routed from the Galaxy, the Replicaters were defeated, the SGC was in possession of a ZPM and Jack had orders to report to D.C. after two weeks down time. And Jack was driving to Minnesota for a week at his cabin; a week of fishing, a week with his friends. To be exact it would be a week with Samantha Carter and just a few days with Daniel and Teal'c. To both Jack and Sam these three weeks seemed as though it had been three years and yet it also passed in a blur as thought it had been three seconds. And in that time so much had been said, so much clarified, so much pain and longing exposed to the light of day and finally so much settled. The door had finally been opened to all that they had imprisoned. They were still getting use to the freedom they finally allowed themselves.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was so very early, barely dawn he awoke with the edges of a dream crowding in on him. Needing to change his perspective he sat up in bed grabbed his reading glasses and novel from his night table. He looked for the page where he left off. He thought that maybe they would laugh if they found out he liked murder mysteries but he really did like solving puzzles.

This wasn't just some hack, this was Michael Connelly and his Harry Bosch was talking about his "Single Bullet Theory". Yeah thought O'Neill 'I understand that perfectly – that one love, it is like being shot, pierced through and through with a wound that will never heal'. And just like Harry, Jack knew that he would always love her, always bleed for her. He lay the book and glasses down and looked at the woman that shared his bed. She lay on her stomach with her back to him as shafts of the early morning sun were streaming into the room. He kissed her bare shoulder to the back of her neck, ran his fingers through her tousled blond hair and felt, more than saw her smile. Bad dreams faded as he reveled in the present.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

He snored softly and she was amazed how quickly he could fall into a post-coital doze while the adrenalin was still flooding her system. She ran her hand over his skin and mused at the thought of how he always flexed his biceps when she touched them, didn't matter if he were awake or asleep, it was just an automatic response – just a male thing she guessed. And as her finger lightly brushed over his arm she felt the scar. The memories rushed into her – chained to the bed, the doctors with the syringe, the realization that they were about to kill her and then Jack was there and she was safe. He did his nonchalant thing but she could see the vein jumping in his neck. He had been frightened too; frightened that he might be too late, but within the hour he was the one that was face down. While she waited with him in that dark, damp basement for the medics, he went on about sleeves on his vest and what a rat bastard Harry Maybourne was for shooting him in the back but made no attempt to rise. She only realized how serious it was when the medics called for a stretcher and O'Neill didn't object. The bullet wasn't from the gun Jack gave Maybourne but it was an armor piercing one, obviously from someone who was prepared to face a Goa'uld. Jack was lucky the vest did stop the bullet but the impact still did some damage.

Why did she think he was indestructible? Why was he always putting his life on the line, as if it counted for nothing? Was this her fault for locking away the love she felt for him for so many years till he no longer believe it existed? She leaned over and as she dropped a kiss on his arm, a tear dropped too. He woke to see Sam's eyes full of tears and he feared that she had suddenly regretted everything.

"What's wrong?"

"I love you."

He smiled and took her in his arms, rocking her gently and said "Everyone has crosses in life to bear."

The End

TBC in my next story 'The Door'

A/N I highly recommend anything and everything written by Michael Connelly. Jack was reading "Lost Light".


End file.
